


The Secret

by becavanlis



Category: Wynonna Earp (TV)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-25
Updated: 2019-01-06
Packaged: 2019-08-03 02:41:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 15,904
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16317587
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/becavanlis/pseuds/becavanlis
Summary: After Wynonna left Purgatory, Waverly Earp learned to survive by herself, along with help from her best friend, Nicole Haught. But once she left for college, there was one thing that she kept to herself.





	1. Chapter One

Nicole smiled as she closed the lid on her laptop, and leaned into the comfort of her own sofa.

She had moved to Purgatory when she was a little girl, and she hadn't left since. Even when Waverly left to study Ancient History in New York, she still stayed in the same place that she had fallen in love with when she was seven years old. There wasn't anything great about the small town, and it certainly wasn't anything special compared to other places. Nicole could only think of one reason as to why she fell in love with the place, and that was the bubbly brunette who welcomed Nicole and her family with a plate full of cookies. She had never had a best friend before, but Waverly quickly took that spot in her life.

She hadn't seen Waverly in the entire time that she had been away at college, almost four whole years. The thought of the plane ticket going to New York City that she had just bought made her feel sick to her stomach, but also filled her with excitement. She couldn't wait to see the look of surprise on Waverly's face when she saw Nicole in time for Waverly's graduation.

When Waverly had left, and Nicole's parents had moved back to San Diego, Nicole had moved in with Gus and Shorty. She couldn't find any reason to leave and hoped that Waverly would eventually move back after she had graduated. The couple had raised Waverly after Wynonna left, and they considered Nicole to be one of the family. She couldn't have been more grateful to them for letting her stay with them until she could find an apartment of her own, and even after she had moved out, she still saw them every Sunday when they all had a meal together and watched movies. They were the second family that she never knew she always wanted, and it was all thanks to Waverly. Everything good in her life was thanks to Waverly.

Nicole picked up her phone that was lying face-down next to her and loaded up Shorty's number. 

"Hi Nicole, how are you dear?" He answered the phone, sounding happy to speak to the woman.

"I'm good, thanks Shorty. So, you'll never guess what I just did."

"Booked tickets to go to New York?"

Nicole opened her mouth, ready to tell the man what she had done before she realised that he had already guessed. "Are you in my apartment?" She laughed, looking behind her.

"Look, Nicky, everyone in this town knows that you have been waiting to go and see Waverly since she moved over there. I'm surprised you didn't chase after her and confess your undying love for her days after she left. I'm not surprised you're going to see her." Shorty explained, having known about her feelings for Waverly before she even knew herself. 

"I'm not-"

"Yes, I know, you're not in love with her. I've heard it all before. When have you booked these tickets for anyway? I know Gus has been trying to hide the letters from me, but Wynonna has been sending them and told her that they were staying together. From what I can tell, Wynonna and Waverly moved in together about two years ago." Shorty said, thinking back to when he first found the letters that Gus was hiding behind the clock in the living room.

Nicole furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. If Waverly had moved back in with Wynonna, then why wouldn't she have told her? Over the past four years, the girls had managed to stay in contact with each other, even if they hadn't managed to see each other, they still texted and FaceTimed each other almost every day. She didn't know why Waverly wouldn't tell her, but she would find out in two weeks time, when her plane ticket was booked for. "Shorty, is there any chance you know an address for the letters that Gus has been getting?"

"Ugh, let me see." There was background noise on the phone and she heard the rustling of paper and the envelopes on the other end. "Yeah, I'll email it to you later. Have you told her that you're coming yet?"

"Not yet, I think I'm gonna keep it as a surprise. She always loved surprises." Nicole said smiling, thinking back to the time that Nicole surprised her on her birthday by taking her rollerskating just outside of the town. Waverly had been watching movies during one of their weekends together and had somehow managed to convince Nicole that rollerskating would be amazing, even if Nicole had no sense of balance. The week after, on the day of her 15th birthday, the two of them drove an hour out of town, and the look on Waverly's face had made it all worth it for Nicole.

"Nicky..." Shorty let out a sigh. "Look, I know she used to love surprises, and you always found the best ones, but things aren't going to be the same as they were all that time ago. I just want you to know that. Four years changes a person, and Waverly has definitely changed."

"I don't understand," Nicole frowned. "Did something happen to her?"

"That's for her to know, and for you to find out. I'm just trying to warn you, maybe she would like to know before you go and see her. But that's your choice, if you really want to surprise her, I won't tell her."

"Okay, thanks Shorty. I'm going to go, email me that address? Love you."

"Love you too, Nicky. See you Sunday!"

Nicole smiled to herself and ended the phone call. She didn't understand what Shorty meant that Waverly had changed. From what she had seen, Waverly was still the same girl that she had always known. The same girl that had been her first friend, the same girl that had invited her to dinner when she realised that Nicole's parents were arguing, the same girl that she used to cuddle up with on the sofa and watch movies with. If something had changed, why wouldn't Waverly tell her? And most importantly, why did Waverly not tell her that she had moved back in with Wynonna?

The three girls used to be the best of friends when Nicole first moved to Purgatory, and they used to do everything together. That was until Wynonna started hanging around with the wrong people. When she turned seventeen, she started dating Doc Holliday. Nicole had told her exactly what she thought of their relationship, and in return, got hit around the face. They hadn't spoken since then. That would probably explain why Waverly hadn't told her about them moving back in together.

Before Nicole could think about it, she was loading up Waverly's number onto her phone, clicking on the FaceTime icon. She smiled at the small picture of her and Waverly together. It was taken when Nicole had surprised her by taking her rollerskating for her birthday. Weeks before, Waverly wouldn't stop talking about how fun it would be if both of them could go, seeming to forget how clumsy Nicole was. So, on Waverly's birthday, Nicole drove them out of town and took them both rollerskating. Even if Nicole managed to fracture her wrist, Waverly enjoyed it and that's what mattered to Nicole.

"Nicole! Hi, how are you? I missed you!" Waverly said, her smile beaming from the screen in front of Nicole.

"I missed you too, Waves! How's college going, are you feeling better now after that flu that you had?" Nicole asked her, glad to see her face in what had felt like a very long time, but in reality was only a couple of days.

"Uh, yeah it's cool. Lots of work and stuff, nothing new. The flu has completely worn off and I'm back at work again, thank God. How's Gus and Shorty doing? I wish I could see you guys soon." Waverly said, quickly skipping past the topic of school. Nicole tried to think back, but she had never really heard of Waverly having any friends at the College. She knew that she had a boyfriend her second year in, Champ Hardy, but they ended after a few months and hadn't heard of anyone else. Sometimes she worried about Waverly being all by herself, but seeing her smiling face on her screen always made her feel better. 

"They're good. You know, they would really love to see you. Every Sunday that I see them they talk about you." Nicole told Waverly. Ever since she left, they always told Nicole stories about Waverly and her childhood, and they loved to tell her stories about times before she had even moved.

"Waverly! Winter wants you!" Nicole heard a voice shout in the background of the call, before she saw Wynonna come into sight. "Oh, shit. Hey, Nicole." She said with an awkward smile and a wave.

"Wynonna. Are you two staying together?" Nicole asked, even though she already learned the answer from Shorty. "Wait, who's Winter?"

"Um, yeah we've been staying together for a while now. Nicky, I have to go. I'll talk to you soon okay? Love you!" Waverly said, before quickly ending the call.

Nicole leaned back into her sofa once again, and let out a sigh. 

It was all coming together for Nicole. Shorty telling her not to surprise Waverly, her not telling her about moving back in with Wynonna, Waverly ending the call so quickly, whoever the hell Winter was. Waverly had a secret. And Nicole was going to find out what it was.


	2. Chapter Two

Nicole blinked as she stared at the brown oak door in front of her. She had dreamed of seeing Waverly for four years, ever since she had to say goodbye to her at the airport. She was nervous. Afraid that Waverly had changed in ways that couldn't be seen over their regular FaceTime calls. Afraid that Waverly wouldn't like her anymore, and that things would have changed between them.

She sighed and tried to let all of her worries go so that she could finally see the person who means everything to her. She raised her fist and knocked on the door, ready to see either Wynonna or Waverly.

The door handle turned, the door opened inwards, and she saw Wynonna on the other side of the doorway. Wynonna's face dropped as she saw who was at the door, and she rolled her eyes at the sight of Nicole. "What are you doing here? Waverly didn't say you were going to turn up."

Nicole flinched back at the harshness that was underlying in Wynonna's words. She knew that they weren't on the best of terms, and never had been after their argument before she left, but she didn't think that she would be horrible to her. "Um, I was going to surprise Waverly. Sorry if it's a bad time-"

Wynonna let out a loud and sharp laugh. "She doesn't want to see you. She never liked you, Nicole, so you need to get over your little obsession with her. She has her own life now. Why do you think she moved so far away from Purgatory just to go to college?"

"Because it has a good History programme? She could learn and get a good degree before moving back." Nicole said furrowing her eyebrows. If Waverly didn't want anything to do with her then why did she keep in contact with her? But it would explain why she didn't tell her about moving back in with Wynonna, or anything else significant that happened in her life. "Why didn't she just tell me?"

"Because you just keep calling and calling. Do you ever wonder why the phone calls and FaceTimes are so short? It's because she doesn't want to see you, Nicole so just give up. I'm tired of you, and so is Waverly. I left right after you accused me of having a bad effect on Waverly, is it really any surprise that everyone gets bored of you? She has other friends Nicole, and she has me. She doesn't need you anymore. So, get over that little crush that you have on her, it's creepy. It creeps her out and it always has."

Nicole took and a deep breath, and tried to convince the tears that were building up not to fall. "Can I just talk to Waverly, please? I came all of this way to see her, and I can't leave without doing the one thing that I came to do."

Wynonna looked at her one last time before closing the door. Nicole heard her call for Waverly, and after waiting for a while, the door opened again. "Nicole. You, um, you didn't say that you were coming."

"Yeah, I wanted to surprise you. But Wynonna didn't seem to think that would be great. Is it true you don't want me to be in your life anymore? Because you could have just said that, Waves."

Waverly sighed, before stepping onto the porch and closing the door behind her. "Look, Wynonna was harsh. But, Nicole, did you ever wonder why I wanted to move so far away from home? I wasn't tired of Purgatory, I was tired of you."

 

Nicole jumped up from her bed, her eyes wide and sweat dripping down her forehead. It was a dream. Over the past week, she had been having the same dream over and over again. It was always about Waverly rejecting her, and saying that she doesn't want her in her life. Ever since Shorty had told her that Waverly was not the same person that she had been four years ago, she had been worrying about it non-stop. Maybe she really shouldn't have bought the plane tickets to go and surprise Waverly.

But she had. And she wasn't going to take that back. She was going to see Waverly and Wynonna, and she just hoped that the scene that she had been visualising in her dreams didn't become reality.

She reached over to the table next to her bed and grabbed her phone from it. 6:23 am. Nicole had to be at the station for 9 am to start her shift, so she decided to start getting ready now so that she could go in and start early. At least that would take her mind off of the dream that she had repeatedly been having. She had heard from the station that she had been given the job earlier in the week. She had done a couple of shifts now and had really started to settle into the position.

Her day felt long, and as it reached 8 pm, she was glad to check out and head over to Gus and Shorty's house. She let herself into the house as she got there, and greeted the couple as she entered.

"Nicky, sweetie, how have you been? How's the new job?" Gus said, embracing the girl, who she considered to be her family, into a hug.

"I've been good, and the job has been good. I'm glad to be starting something that I want to do. Don't get me wrong, I loved working at the bar, and with you two, but it wasn't what I wanted to do with my life." Nicole said. She was so thankful for Gus, for bringing her in when she needed help, and for giving her work at Shory's. They were her family.

"I know, honey. And we are so glad that you're finally doing what you love. So, sit down sweetie. I made lasagne for dinner if that's okay with you?" Gus told her, pulling out a chair from under the table for Nicole to sit on. She walked into the kitchen and began serving up the dinner onto three separate plates.

"You know that's my favourite, Gus. Thank you." She said as she sat down at the table, and Gus passed her a plate.

"So Shorty. Have anything new to tell me? I'm assuming I've missed all the gossip from the bar." Nicole said with a laugh, looking towards the man.

The couple looked at each other, as an awkward silence set in the room. Nicole had known the couple long enough to be able to tell when something was wrong, and something was wrong. "What's wrong? You know I can tell when something is up with you two." Nicole said, furrowing her eyebrows.

"Tell her, honey," Gus said to her second husband, nudging him.

Shorty let out a sigh and avoided looking at Nicole. "So, Nicky. I, um... I went to the hospital the other day. They told me that I have... I have cancer."

Silence settled in the room, as Nicole widened her eyes in shock. She put down the fork that she was holding onto the plate in front of her. Everything seemed to be going so well for her in her life, but now she didn't know what to believe. The man that she saw as a father figure to her had never been ill for as long as she could remember. She had rarely even seen him with a cold, let alone something like this.

"They said it's not severe, only small. It's easily removed, and I have an appointment for surgery on Wednesday."

She was silent once again, realising what was going on. "I'm flying to New York on Wednesday." Nicole blinked, as she quickly picked up her phone from where it was placed on the table. She quickly went onto the internet and started searching for the airline's phone number. "Maybe if I ring them and see if they can rearrange it for next month that'll be okay-"

"No, Nicole. I don't want you to do that." He said, placing his hand on her arm. "Look, it's only a small surgery, I'll be fine. It only lasts for three hours, and Gus can keep you updated from the hospital. It will be nice to see you and Waverly together again, finally. You two deserve to see each other after all of these years, Maybe we can fly out the week after you go, they said it should heal in a few days." He said, looking towards Gus, who nodded in return.

"Ugh, are you sure? I want to be with you, and make sure that you're okay. I can't do that from the other side of the country." Nicole said. She was conflicted. She wanted to see Waverly, but she also wanted to make sure that Shorty was okay. But if he wanted her to go, and was sure that he would be okay, then she knew that it was for the best.

"Nicole, you don't have to look after me. That's not your job, and I don't expect you to do that for me, okay? Go and see Waverly, make her happy, and then we will come out and see you two after." Shorty told her. "I love you, sweetie. I want you to be happy, and Waverly makes you happy. So go and see her. I shouldn't have told you that she wouldn't want you to surprise her, okay? That was my mistake. She loves everything you do for her, and it won't be any different now. I'm completely sure of it."

Nicole closed her eyes, as she tried to work everything out in her head. She felt so conflicted, but she knew that Shorty would be okay. She nodded and smiled at him, before picking up her fork again and eating the lasagne that Gus had made for them. "She would love to see you guys, you know. She really misses you."

"It'll be so lovely to see Wynonna and Waverly again. It's been so long." Gus said with a smile. "And it'll be so lovely to meet Winter, she seems like such a lovely-" Gus stopped in the middle of her sentence, as she realised what she had just said, and Shorty turned his head quickly towards his wife.

"Wynonna said something about someone called Winter the other day, who even is that?" Nicole asked casually while finishing the rest of the meal that was on her plate. They knew that Nicole didn't know who Winter was, and decided to leave that to Waverly to tell her. Hopefully, this trip wouldn't go completely wrong.

"Oh, just someone that the two of them know," Gus said, standing up and carrying all of the plates into the kitchen. "So what movie do you guys want to watch? Shawshank Redemption? Shutter Island?" Gus asked them.

Nicole smiled as they all sat on the large couch in the house that she had pretty much lived in during her childhood. She loved her family more than anything, and couldn't wait to see the rest of them once again. 

Although she had bought the tickets to go and see Waverly, she was also looking forward to seeing Wynonna. She wanted to make up for all of the years that they hadn't spoken in, and she wanted her best friend back. 

She was going to get to New York, and she was going to see the people who she loved more than anything. No matter what.


	3. Chapter 3

"Flight 116 to New York is now boarding." Nicole heard the voice over the speaker call.

She looked to the right of her and stood up along with Gus and Shorty. The older man smiled at her and opened his arms to bring her into an embrace. Nicole still hadn't come to terms with the fact that she wouldn't be able to be in constant contact with Gus to know how he was doing in his surgery, but she knew that it would start relatively near to when she would land. "I love you, Nicky. Have a safe flight. Let us know when you land and when you get to the house."

"Of course I will. I love you too, I will ring Gus as soon as I land." She said, letting go of Shorty. She looked towards Gus and embraced her next. Ever since she had moved into Purgatory, she had not been apart from them for a long period of time. This was new for her, but she knew it would all be worth it when she could see Waverly and Wynonna. 

"Stay safe, honey. You're such a thoughtful girl, Waverly will love the surprise. Even if she doesn't show it at first." Gus said, leaning back to stroke Nicole's cheek. 

Nicole smiled before turning her head and looking over at the flight board behind her. "I have to go now. But I will call as soon as I get there. I love you guys, the surgery will be fine. Just try not to pass out or anything when they give you the injections." Nicole laughed, knowing that Shorty had a long history of hating needles. 

They said their final goodbyes, and before she knew it, she was onto the plane and sat in her seat. She was by the window, waiting for the passenger to come and take the seat next to her. She could use a good chat to calm the nerves that were now beginning to build. The thought of going on her first flight, all _alone _, freaked her out. She had nobody to confess all of her secret, pedantic fears to.__

__It felt like ages had passed before a woman who looked to be in her late fifties came and sat down next to Nicole. "Hi, dear."_ _

__She smiled at the older lady and replied with a brief 'hello'._ _

__She watched as the lady sat down in the green leather seat, and buckled her seatbelt as soon as she had sat down. "First time flying?" She asked, as she turned and saw Nicole watching her every move._ _

__"How could you tell?" Nicole asked with a laugh, knowing that her facial expressions had given herself away. She had never been scared of many things in her life. When all of the girls her age were scared of spiders or bugs, she thought they were cute. Even when she lived with Gus and Shorty, she would always be the one who would rid the house of any insects. But doing things for the first time was daunting to Nicole. Especially a first experience that required her to be however many feet in the sky._ _

__"I remember the first time I was on a plane. I was a little girl and I held my dad's hand the entire journey. We actually went to New York, the first time. We went to see my auntie who lived over there, and even though I would be so scared during the flight, I had completely forgotten about it by the time that I got to see her." The lady told Nicole, with a smile at the thought of the fond memory. It was like many stories that Nicole had heard about the first time someone had done something. With their dad._ _

__Nicole and her dad had never been very close, but once he and her mother moved back to San Diego, Nicole's ties to her parents were completely cut off. He wasn't a very warm man, and Nicole remembered that even as a little girl he rarely comforted her. When she eventually came out as gay, it didn't surprise her that he wasn't willing to welcome the idea or her with open arms._ _

__"That's what I'm hoping is going to happen," Nicole said under her breath. Deep down, she was still nervous that she would be turned away as soon as Waverly or Wynonna saw it was her. But she just had to hope that it would all be okay._ _

__"Are you going to see anyone special?" The lady asked with a warm smile, which immediately comforted Nicole._ _

__"Yeah, I am." She said with a smile, thinking about Waverly. "She's called Waverly. She was my first real friend. I haven't seen her in four years because she moved to New York for college. I don't know why I didn't come sooner. I'm surprising her." Nicole told her, returning the smile._ _

__"Oh, that's lovely dear. She sounds really important to you."_ _

__\-----_ _

__Over the five hours on the flight, Nicole had spent it talking to the older lady about Waverly, and in return, she had told her about her husband and family in New York._ _

__As the plane landed, the passengers all clapped and Nicole breathed a sigh of relief. The flight itself wasn't bad, but she was glad to finally be touching the ground once again._ _

__"Well, it was lovely meeting you, dear. I hope you had a wonderful time with your special friend." She lady told her, touching Nicole's shoulder, as the passengers begun to stand up and depart the plane._ _

__"And you, Maureen. Have a lovely time with your family." Nicole replied before they both walked down the aisle and left the aeroplane._ _

__As they climbed down the steps of the plane, Nicole reached for the phone in her back pocket and immediately switched it back on. There was no missed calls or texts from Gus, which she took as a good sign. She called for a taxi and found the address that Shorty had texted her the previous week._ _

__The journey to Waverly and Wynonna's house wasn't long, but it felt like an eternity to Nicole. She had gone through every possible scenario that could happen before the driver finally stopped outside a group of houses that he told her was the address. She thanked the driver before paying him the amount and a tip with it before she got out of the car and he helped her to get her bags out of the trunk._ _

__She crossed the road and looked for a number '34' on any of the doors. Once she had finally spotted it, along with a letterbox outside saying 'Earp', she walked up the steps of the porch. She took a deep breath, and pushed all of her thoughts aside, before knocking on the door._ _

__She waited for a few minutes before she finally heard footsteps coming towards the door. Wynonna answered the door mid-laugh, with a young girl in her arms. "Nicole?" She asked with wide eyes before she put the small child down and immediately brought her arms around the woman in front of her. "Waverly didn't say that you were going to be visiting."_ _

__"Oh, um, she doesn't exactly know that I'm here," Nicole said awkwardly, after returning her embrace happily._ _

__"Oh no, this is going to be interesting then," Wynonna said, raising her eyebrows. "Come on in, it's a bit of a mess if I'm honest. We never really get anyone here apart from Champ, and it's not exactly like we need to impress him." She said with a laugh before ushering the redhead inside._ _

__"Champ? As in Waverly's boyfriend from her freshman year?" Nicole asked. She thought that they didn't speak anymore, at least, Waverly didn't mention that they did. Wynonna nodded. "What's all that about?"_ _

__"Oh, you'll find out, believe me."_ _

__Nicole nodded, and just accepted that she wasn't going to understand anything until she saw Waverly. As the pair entered the Living Room, there were two small girls playing on the floor. "Hey, girlies, why don't you go up to Alice's room and play, huh?" Wynonna told them before they both ran upstairs._ _

__"Wait, so who are the two little girls?" Nicole asked, confused about everything that was going on._ _

__"Well, they're Alice and Winter. Waverly can tell you about them when she gets back from college." Wynonna said. Nicole understood that it must be something important if Waverly had to tell her. She recognised the name Winter from Gus and Shorty, but she always thought they were talking about a family friend, not a little girl. "Shes really missed you, Nicky. She's gonna love that you're here. I missed you too. I'm so sorry for everything that happened in High School, I should have taken your advice but you know how stubborn I am."_ _

__"I know, Nonna. But I shouldn't have let us fall out so easily, you know? I could have stopped it, and I feel so shit about it." She told her, glad that she could finally say what she had wanted to say ever since she left._ _

__"You couldn't have stopped it, I was a dumbass and didn't listen to my best friend. Like who even does that? I messed up, but I'm so glad that you're back now." Wynonna said, reaching out to place her hand over Nicole's._ _

__"Me too." She smiled. "God, I have a lot to tell you." She said with a laugh._ _

__She told Wynonna about everything that she had missed and told her about Shorty and his surgery. Wynonna was shocked at first but knew that her uncle was a strong man, and he would eventually be okay._ _

__Nicole's phone started vibrating as she was telling Wynonna bout her new job at the station, and once she saw that it was from Gus, she quickly excused herself and Wynonna showed her where the kitchen was so that they could speak privately. She clicked on the green phone button and answered the call. "Hiya Gus."_ _

__"Nicole, you didn't ring me!" Gus told her, as soon as she heard that she had answered the phone._ _

__"I know, I'm sorry. I texted you when I was in the taxi." She said, and Gus grumbled some response. "How is he?" She said, lowering her voice slightly._ _

__"He's just got out of the surgery. Everything went good, as far as they can tell. He's out cold, just like when he has a couple of beers, nothing new there!" She told her with a laugh. "They said we can travel after three days. Speaking of, how is she?"_ _

__"I haven't seen Waverly yet, she's still at college. But Wynonna is home, she's brilliant." Nicole told her, and she knew that Gus would be over the moon to know that the two of them were going back to their old ways._ _

__"Oh, Nicky, I'm so glad to hear that. I know you missed her all of these years, I'm so happy for you." She replied. "Well, I'm going to leave you be. Let me know when you've seen Waverly. I'm expecting a face call thingy from you later!"_ _

__Nicole laughed, "Of course Gus. Send Shorty my love. I love you!"_ _

__The call ended, and she walked back out into the hallway. The doorbell rung and Wynonna signalled for her to open the door, as it was clearly Waverly. She took a deep breath and prepared herself for the moment that she had been waiting for for the best part of four years._ _

__She grabbed the door handle, and dragged it down, opening the door. There she was. Waverly Earp._ _


	4. Chapter Four

There she was. Waverly Earp.

Nicole was in shock at the sight of the girl. She was looking down at her phone, but Nicole could already see that she looked exactly the same as she did the last time that she saw her.

When she finally looked up and saw the redhead that had answered the door to her, her mouth dropped in shock and she quickly wrapped her arms around her. "Oh my god, is that actually you?" She asked, leaning back to make sure that she had seen her face properly. "I can't believe this." She soon began to get emotional and rubbed harshly at the tears that were beginning to form in her eyes.

"It's really me, please don't cry," Nicole said, reaching her hand up to wipe the tears away herself. 

"How?... Did you plan this all yourself?" She asked her, ignoring her older sister who was trying to usher the two inside, claiming that she was 'freezing her whole ass off'.

"Well, Gus and Shorty kept it all a secret and gave me your address. I can't take all of the credit." Nicole told her as the couple began to move inside, starting to get cold themselves.

"Wave, I'm gonna go upstairs and stay with the girls for a bit. Call me if you want her to come down." Wynonna told her with a smile. She wanted her sister to have some time with her best friend before she had to tell her about everything that was going on.

Waverly nodded at her before the pair of them sat down on the couch. 

Nicole sighed, wanting to ask the girl in front of her what she had missed over the years, but she didn't want to ruin the moment. She knew that she had to tell her about Shorty. "Waves, I have to tell you something." She said with a small smile, gently reaching out to hold her hand.

"What is it? Is everything okay?" She asked, nervous at the tone of Nicole's words.

"Well, it is now. But, Shorty was sick. He had cancer, well he might still have it, it's too early to tell." Nicole told the girl, as Waverly looked at her in shock. "He had surgery earlier today, it was only a small tumour, and he's with Gus now. They said that they should be able to travel and come out in a few days. They're gonna come and see you and Wynonna, Waves." 

"He... um, he's okay?" Waverly asked her, not quite able to fully comprehend what she had just told her. She had known Shorty her whole life, he was the only man she had ever known as her aunt's partner, and she had never seen him ill. 

"Yeah, Gus is with him. She said he's still asleep, but the surgery went well. He's going to be fine. You know him, he's a fighter." Nicole said with a laugh, remembering the man telling her that he'll 'be damned if he's in the hospital a moment longer than he needs to be'. 

"Oh god, I'm so glad to hear that." She replied, breathing a sigh of relief. "How have you been with it all? Are you okay Nicky?"

Nicole just nodded, she wasn't great when she first heard the news, nobody would be. But she felt better after knowing that he was okay now. "It was scary having to leave him, I wanted to try and reschedule the flight, but I wanted to be here for your graduation. I know it's supposed to be soon."

As soon as Nicole said that, Waverly's face dropped.

"What? Is it not soon?" Nicole asked, confused by the girl's expression.

"Um, graduation is soon, yes." Nicole nodded, so what was the problem? "Not my graduation though."

"Wait, stop, I'm confused. Your course was four years, wasn't it? How are you not graduating with your class? Your the brainiest person I know, Waves." Nicole said, shaking her head. She couldn't believe that Waverly wasn't graduating, and she couldn't believe that she didn't tell her.

"Well, they're not my class." She said, adding to the redhead's confusion. "Okay, I'm going to explain everything. Just... you have to promise me that you'll stay open-minded, and think about how I must have been feeling, okay?" Nicole nodded, wanting everything to finally make sense. "So, my course is four years, you're right about that. But I dropped out after my first year. Do you remember Champ?"

"Yeah, that boyfriend that you had for a couple of months."

"That's the one. Well, at the end of my first year at the college, I missed a couple of periods. Turns out Champ and I weren't as safe as we thought we were."

Nicole shook her head, trying to understand what Waverly was telling her. "I don't understand."

"I got pregnant, Nicky." 

Her eyes widened as everything finally pieced together. That's what Wynonna meant when she said that Champ was still in their lives. That's why Shorty warned her that Waverly might not be too happy to be surprised. That's who they meant when they kept speaking about Winter. "Are they both yours?" She asked her best friend, pointing at the ceiling.

"No. Wynonna and I got back in touch while I was pregnant, and turns out she was due as well. She gave me the idea to go back to college and finish my degree, while she looked after the girls. I'm graduating next year." She said, reaching out to touch Nicole's arm. "Are you mad?" She asked, curious about the older girl's lack of response.

Nicole shook her head as she attempted to find her words. "I'm not mad, I just... why wouldn't you tell me, Waves? I was supposed to be your best friend."

"You are. I was just struggling enough as it was, everything was changing, and I wanted at least one thing in my life to stay the same. You're my constant, Nicole. If things changed with you, it would have ruined me. You and Winter are the most important people in my life, and I couldn't live without you." She told her, quickly getting emotional before Nicole wrapped her arms around the smaller body in front of her.

"It's okay, sh. Waves, don't cry." 

"You hate me, don't you?" Waverly asked, continuing her sobbing.

"I don't hate you, Waverly Earp. Believe me, I love you more than anything." Nicole said as Waverly looked up from the comfort of her arms. 

"Really?" She sniffled.

"Really," Nicole replied with a smile and a nod of her head. "But can I just ask one more question?"

Waverly nodded.

"So, are you and Champ dating or something? I thought you said that the two of you had broken up."

"Oh, good god, no. If anything, he put me off from men completely." She said with a laugh, as Nicole raised her eyebrows. Interesting. "But no, we could never go back down that path. He may not have been the best boyfriend, but he is a great dad. He lives across the road and we see him a lot, I wanted Winter to have a good relationship with him, you know?"

"How old is she?" Nicole asked, smiling at the fondness that Waverly had for her daughter.

"She's turning four next week," Waverly told her best friend. "Do you... do you want to meet her? She knows all about you."

"Really? You told her about me? I'd love to meet her, that would be amazing. I'm not the best with kids though, what if I make her cry or something?" Nicole said, suddenly nervous at the idea of meeting her best friend's daughter. What if she ended up not liking her?

"Believe me, you won't," Waverly told her, touching her shoulder before she stood up from the couch to move to the bottom of the staircase. "Winnie! Come down, there's someone here to meet you!"

As Nicole waited nervously on the couch, she heard a set of small footsteps coming from above her in one of the upstairs rooms. A couple of seconds later, Waverly came in with the young girl holding on to her hand. She had light brown hair, very similar to Waverly's, and looked just like a younger version of the woman. 

"Winter, do you remember when mummy told you about her best friend from back home?"

"Yeah, Nicky." She said excitedly, bouncing on the spot before she looked over at Nicole nervously.

"That's right. You see that pretty lady over there?" Waverly asked the child with a smile, as she nodded her head. "Well, that's Nicole. Do you want to go and say hi?"

The small child looked at her mother, who nodded at her, before turning and running towards Nicole. The pair of small arms wrapped around Nicole's legs before she leaned down so that she could return the hug.

As Waverly saw the pair, she smiled to herself. She knew that Nicole wouldn't have a bad reaction to her having a child, but she still couldn't have imagined herself telling her during her pregnancy. Her friendship with Nicole had been the same ever since they first met, and she didn't want to risk it changing. But she couldn't keep it a secret forever. She knew Nicole, and she knew that she would love her just the same as she always did, but she would love her daughter now as well. 

"My mommy always speaks about you, and how much she loves you. I thought you might be imaginary before I saw a picture of you. You're very pretty." The little girl said to her, while looking up in an attempt to see her face. 

"Thank you very much, Winter. I'm very sorry that I didn't come and see you and your mommy before now, but I'm going to stay here for a little bit so that I can spend some time with you both. You're so beautiful, you look just like your mom." Nicole told her, laughing at the small girl's reaction as she saw her cheeks go slightly red.

Waverly's heart melted at the sight and wanted more than anything for the two most important people in her life to get to know each other. 

"How long are you staying? Can you stay forever?" Winter asked her, as Nicole leaned down to pick her up and place her on her hip. 

"I can't stay forever, but I wish that I could. How does a few weeks sound to you though?" She asked the younger girl, who just beamed back in response.

"That sounds so cool! You can meet my daddy as well! He always comes over for dinner so that he can see me before I go to bed. Mommy loves you, so daddy will as well. Him and Auntie Nonna argue sometimes though, they're not best friends." Nicole looked up at Waverly, who simply shrugged her shoulders in response.

Champ had always known that she didn't return the feelings that he had for her. He guessed that her heart belonged to someone else, but Waverly had never admitted who that person was. He wasn't great about their breakup, but was always great with their daughter, so she managed to get over the tension that would lie in the room once Winter had left them alone. It was true, Wynonna and Champ argued, but she always tried to hide that from the young girl. But that clearly didn't always work.

"Winnie, how about you go and get Auntie Nonna and Alice to come downstairs?" Waverly asked her daughter, as Nicole carefully placed her back on the ground before she ran upstairs to collect her Aunt and cousin. 

"So you two are clearly close," Nicole asked, referring to Champ. She could understand why, but she was still slightly on the fence about Waverly keeping it all from her.

"Only for the sake of Winnie. He doesn't like the fact that I never felt the same way for him. Once she's out of the room, and it's just us, he talks about how I couldn't just get over my feelings for-" She hesitated for a second. "for someone else, and just be with him."

"Well doesn't he sound charming." The red-head replied as they both laughed.

"Believe me, if we didn't have a daughter together, he would not be in my life at all. I have no clue why I even dated him." 

"Everybody has one person that's like that." Nicole paused for a second and thought about what she needed to tell her. She felt like a hypocrite being upset with Waverly over her not telling her what was going on when she had kept a thing or two from her as well. "Waves, I have to tell you something."

Before Nicole could tell her, they heard the race of footsteps downstairs, and saw the two young girls run into the room to see Nicole. 

"See, I told you that she was real," Winter said to Alice with her arms crossed, standing next to Nicole.

Nicole smiled at the younger girl, but wished she had taken a bit longer before coming back downstairs. Guess it would have to wait until another day.


	5. Chapter Five

The three best friends, and the children all sat on the sofa as they watched the Disney movie that had been set to play on the television. Winter and Alice were sat on the floor, eyes focused on Moana, their favourite movie. Wynonna looked towards the two women that were sat on the sofa next to her and smiled at the sight of Nicole cuddled under Waverly's arm as she slept. 

The girls had known each other for fifteen years, and Wynonna felt as if she knew Nicole and her sister better than they knew themselves. Since they were teenagers, Wynonna had known that her sister and best friend had feelings for each other, even if they didn't know that they did. Neither of them had admitted it to the older girl, probably because they were under the spell of innocence and believed that it was normal for best friends to be as close as they were. 

When she had reunited with Waverly, she was relieved that the girl had finally realised who she had feelings for and that she opened up to her about it. She told her sister that being with Champ had made her realise the way that she felt towards Nicole. Wynonna had always hated the boy after she found out his reaction to the fact that Waverly had feelings towards one of her girl best friends. Before she had realised that she was pregnant, Waverly had tried to open up to him about it and hoped that their breakup would remain easy.

 

_"Champ, I need to tell you something." Waverly told her boyfriend, as he watched the football game that was playing on the television with a beer in his hand._

_"Babe, is it important? I'm trying to watch the game." Champ asked her, not taking his eyes off of the screen._

_"Yes. Can you please, for one moment, care about me more than some stupid football game? It's not like you're dating one of the players?" She said to him, getting emotional, even though she wasn't upset that she wasn't getting attention. The less attention he paid towards her, the less likely it was that he would find out how she felt about Nicole._

_"Jesus Christ, Waverly. Don't say something like that. That's disgusting." He said, grabbing the remote to put the television on mute. "Okay, talk. But be quick, I don't want to miss them scoring a goal." He grumbled._

_Waverly was taken back by his statement. "What's disgusting?" She asked him. If he meant what she thought he meant, it would make telling him a lot harder even though she had always had an idea of what he had thought about same-sex relationships from the small things that he did. Changing the television channel when any LGBT+ news came on; avoiding the large pride events that their area had; cutting the conversations short with the gay couple who lived next door._

_"The idea of me dating a man. That's just wrong on so many levels." He said with a laugh, before taking another sip of his beer that sat in his hand and rested on his knee._

_"Oh..." She said. Now that she knew he felt that way, she thought this wouldn't be such a good idea. If he got angry with her, there is no way that she could outrun him. But she couldn't break up with him without a reason. He wouldn't accept that._

_"What's up, babe? This has taken long enough. Did you want to talk about how you're not giving me any? Because that's not good for me. Sex has to happen in a relationship, otherwise, it's just pointless. Plus, you're missing out." He said with a wink, as he leaned forward in an attempt to kiss her, but she diverted it so he kissed her cheek. "Okay, what the fuck? I'm tired of this bullshit, Waverly. Do I have to find someone else that will give me what you're not?" He asked, beginning to raise his voice._

_"Look, Champ, I don't think that this is going to work." She said, deciding not to tell him how she felt about her best friend. She didn't want to risk making him angry. She had seen him angry before, and she didn't want to risk him unleashing the violence on her. He had never hurt her before, but he might act differently if he knew the truth._

_He dragged his eyes off of the television, and finally looked towards his girlfriend. He scrunched his eyebrows together, as he tried to understand what she was saying to him. "What makes you think that? Have you been seeing someone else? Is that why you've not been screwing me?"_

_Waverly sighed. "No, Champ. I have not been seeing anyone but you." She stood up and walked over to the door._

_"That's it? You're just going to leave?" Champ asked, following her actions by standing up and following her to where she stood next to the door. He let out a sigh. "Can you at least tell me why?"_

_Waverly paused, as she thought through what she was going to tell him. He may not have been the best boyfriend, let alone a good person, but he deserved an explanation. "I'm not seeing anyone else. But I do have feelings for someone else. I'm sorry I didn't realise it earlier, Champ."_

_He stayed silent for a moment. That was it? She had feelings for someone else? He couldn't understand why she couldn't try and get over it, for the sake of their relationship. "Why can't you just ignore them? If you're not going to tell them, then why can't you just stay with me?"_

_"That wouldn't do either of us any good Champ." Waverly gave him a sad smile. She leaned forward and kissed his cheek before she grabbed her coat and opened the door to leave._

_"Do I know him?" He asked her as she was closing the door after her._

_He saw the door to open once again. "What?" She asked him. Was he really asking her this?_

_"Do I know him, Waverly? You heard the fucking question." He repeated, raising his voice again._

_"You don't know them. Goodbye." She said, finally being able to leave his apartment without him stopping her." ___

__

__"Wynonna?" Waverly asked, looking towards her sister and realising that she was completely zoned out._ _

__"Huh?" She replied, finally coming back to reality. Nicole was still asleep under Waverly's arm, while her sister was playing with her hair._ _

__"Are you okay? You were completely out of it then." She said, wondering what her sister was thinking about._ _

__"Yeah, I'm cool. Totally cool."_ _

__"Well, can you grab Nicole's cell phone for me? It's on the table, it won't stop ringing." She asked, and smiled as her sister passed it to her. "Thanks."_ _

__As she looked at the phone, there were several missed calls from someone called Shae. She furrowed her eyebrows, who the hell was that? Nicole had never mentioned anyone called Shae to her before. While she was thinking about it, another call came through, and she decided to swipe the small green icon across the screen and answer._ _

__"Hello?" Waverly answered._ _

__"Is this Nicole?" She heard a female voice reply._ _

__"Um, no. She can't answer the phone right now. Can I take a message?"_ _

__"I'd rather speak to her if I'm completely honest. But if she's busy, just... tell her not to forget about me. Also, there's good news about Shorty. He is all recovered and should be fine to fly out to see that girl in a few days." Waverly was still completely in the dark about who the girl even was, and Nicole began to stir in her arms. She furrowed her eyebrows as she saw Waverly on her phone, and held her hand out for her to pass it to her._ _

__"Um, one second. Nicole is here now, I'll pass you on." Waverly said, before handing the phone over._ _

__"Hello? Oh hi, Shae." Nicole said, before sitting up so that she was no longer in Waverly's arms. She sat up, completely ceasing any contact that the two previously had, as she listened to what the woman was saying. "Yeah, sorry. I've been kind of busy." She went silent once again. "I'll speak to you when I get back. I'm in New York with some friends right now. Thank you for the news about Shorty though. I'll see you soon. Bye." She said, before disconnecting the phone from her ear and ending the call._ _

__She tried her best not to look towards Waverly, but she felt the pair of brown eyes burning into her, and couldn't help but looking at her._ _

__"Who was that?" Waverly asked her. Nicole thought that she could sense a hint of jealousy in her voice, but she immediately put the thought out of her head. She had nothing to be jealous over, and why would she anyway?_ _

__"It's kind of a long story." She told her, not wanting to tell her in front of the two young girls that were sat in the same room._ _

__Once Waverly realised that there was no way Nicole would tell her the truth while the kids were in the room, she breathed in a deep breath. "Hey girls, why don't you go with Nonna and go and get Winnie's daddy. It's almost dinner time. If you ask him nicely maybe he can buy some pizza." She said and smiled as they got up from their place in front of the television and started jumping up and down._ _

__Wynonna gave her a slight smile, knowing that the two of them had a lot to talk about. She helped the girls get their coats on and then set off across the street to find Champ. She may not like Champ, but he was a part of their lives for the girls, and she knew that she had to put up with that._ _

__"So, do you want to tell me the truth then?" Waverly asked as she sat with her arms crossed._ _

__"Why are you so mad? It's not like you kept having a child from me or anything. Oh, wait, you did. How can you be angry at me for keeping such a small part of my life away from you?" Nicole barked, not wanting to say what she did, but she couldn't help but be upset._ _

__Waverly flinched back in shock at the harshness of Nicole's words. How could she not understand that she kept it from her for the right reasons? They had discussed this before. Tears began to build up in her eyes at the woman's reaction. "Nicole, I did it for you. I didn't want to lose you."_ _

__"So you did it for yourself. Not me. How was any of this good for me? You told your daughter about me, so why couldn't I know the truth? You seriously don't care about me, huh?" Nicole said, shaking her head and trying not to get emotional. Nicole Haught was never the type of person to show her emotions, and she had never opened up to anyone. Even after her parents had left, she didn't tell anyone how she was really feeling. She just bottled it up, like she did with everything. Her mother always told her that emotions were a weakness, and over the past few years, she had started to see how true that was._ _

__"Nicole Rayleigh Haught, how dare you say that? Of course I care about you. I always have, and I always will. I was trying to protect you and our friendship. If I lost you, I couldn't cope. So, yes, maybe I was being selfish, but that doesn't mean that I don't care about you." Waverly had never wanted to tell her about her feelings towards her more than now. But she couldn't. She couldn't ruin what she had only just properly got back._ _

__"Everyone has always left me, Waves. You did too, and you didn't even tell me the truth. Maybe I should just leave-" Nicole said, moving towards the door before Waverly grabbed her arm. She stood up, directly in front of the woman, and before she could stop herself, she leaned forwards and connected their lips._ _

__To say that Nicole was shocked by the kiss was an understatement, but once she realised what was going on, she immediately kissed her back. She pulled Waverly's body as close to her as she could, trying to feel every part of her. Once they heard the turn of the door handle, they immediately pulled away from each other and stood as far away as they possibly could._ _

__"Mommy's friend Nicole is here, do you remember her telling us about her? She's so pretty, daddy." They heard the small voice say from the corridor._ _

__Nicole watched as the large man walked into the house, with Winter in his arms. The smile that the young girl had on her face showed how happy she was to see him._ _

__"I do remember that, baby. Did you say hello to her?" He asked her, tickling her stomach as he put her down on the floor of the house._ _

__"Yes, I did. Come and say hi!" She said loudly, as she dragged him into the room with his ex-girlfriend and Nicole. He gave her a polite smile, as his daughter dragged him towards the pair._ _

__"Hi, Nicole was it? It's lovely to meet you. Winter hasn't stopped talking about you, so she must really like you." He said with a laugh, reaching out his hand to shake the other woman's. "Nice handshake." He told her, as he felt the woman grip his hand harshly._ _

__"Nice to meet you." Nicole nodded in return, not sure about what she was supposed to feel towards the man. From what Wynonna had told her, he wasn't great to Waverly, which immediately put her on edge. She couldn't imagine anyone treating her like anything but the angel she is._ _

__"Are you staying for dinner? The girls have convinced me to buy dinner." He said, as he made himself at home by sitting down on the sofa._ _

__Nicole looked to Waverly. "I don't want to ruin the family meal. I'm sure I could find somewhere else to go." She said, her eyes still fixed on Waverly._ _

__Champ watched the pair closely, even though neither of them seemed to be paying attention to him._ _

__"No, stay. You are family, Nicole." Waverly told her with a smile, reaching out to hold her hand, but pulling away once she realised that he was watching them so closely. "We would love to have you."_ _

__Nicole nodded at her and agreed to stay with them. Champ didn't know what was going on, and felt slightly uncomfortable around the red-head, but he didn't say anything._ _

__This was going to be a fun dinner._ _


	6. Chapter Six

The doorbell rung, signalling that the family's food had arrived and Champ went to answer it. 

Nicole felt as if she was intruding on their personal time, but Winter was extremely chatty with her, which was a comfort, to say the least. She could feel the tension between Wynonna and Champ, which was an immediate sign that maybe he wasn't the best boyfriend to Waverly. But that was easy to tell. If he had been, then they would be raising Winter as a couple, rather than just co-parenting.

"I don't know what you normally like, Nicole. But we always get cheese and ham, so... sorry if you don't want it, I guess." He said, not really caring whether or not she liked it. He had bought it for his family, and Nicole was not a part of that. He didn't really understand why Waverly had let her stay, but he would put up with it if he had to, in order to spend time with Winter and Waverly.

"Um, yeah, that's fine by me." She replied. After she was first introduced to Champ, he seemed like he might be friendly, but it had only gone downhill. She had never felt more unwelcomed by someone and felt uncomfortable, to say the least. Waverly saw the stress radiating off of her, and placed her hand on Nicole's leg in an attempt to make her feel better.

Champ was never open to new people, definitely not if he saw them as a threat. She hated that about him, but she was certain that she wasn't going to let him ruin their nights together. 

"If you want anything else, we have plenty of stuff in. Just let me know, Nic." Waverly said with a smile. He was not going to make someone feel uncomfortable in her home. Especially somebody that he cared for.

"Of course I will, Waves. Thank you." 

Wynonna smiled as she watched the pair. She had always known that they were in love with each other, and she had a feeling that soon enough, they were going to find that out. She had got back into touch with her sister when she was going through her breakup with the man - if he could be called that - and she knew that Nicole made her happier than Champ ever did. She looked towards her sister's ex-boyfriend and saw him scowling at them. As she finished off her pizza, she made sure that Waverly wasn't looking, and threw her pizza crust at the man. 

"Ow." He said, before everyone at the table looked at him, drawn to the noise that he had made. Wynonna shook her head at him, and he continued to scowl, but this time at his plate. 

There was silence between the family, as they all tried to process what was going on. It wasn't an easy time for them all to have together, but Waverly was convinced that nobody was going to be left out if it was up to her.

Champ needed time with his daughter, who she wanted to have a good relationship with her father no matter what. And she needed time with Nicole, the woman who she had come to realise a while back that she had feelings for. They all needed to be there, no matter how awkward it made things.

"So, I got a call earlier. Shorty is going to be okay, he's recovering right now. That pretty much means him and Gus will be on their way over for this weekend." Nicole told them, trying to fill in the awkward silence that they all could feel building. She knew that the news would make Waverly and Wynonna happy, and hoped that it would override the silence that made all of them slightly uncomfortable.

"Oh brilliant, that old git's coming here? How exciting." Champ said sarcastically, before taking a bite of his pizza.

"Champ." Waverly said, standing up from her seat at the table. "Can I talk to you in the other room?" She said, dragging him out by the arm before he could choose to go with her. 

She had had enough of him, and she needed to tell him that he was getting on her last nerve. 

"Ow, will you let go of me already?" He said, smacking the woman's hand off of its place on his arm. "What is it? I was enjoying that pizza." He complained, twisting his head to try and look back to where the family were sat.

"You're lucky if I let you even stay here after that. Watch your mouth speaking about Shorty like that in front of my daughter. Just because he doesn't like the way that you treated me, it doesn't mean you can speak about him in that way." She said, rubbing her hands together slowly, and trying not to raise her voice at him. Waverly always tried her hardest to make sure that Winter didn't hear them argue. She remembered when she used to hear her parents arguing, and how much it hurt her and her sisters.

" _Our _daughter, I think you mean." Champ corrected her, raising his eyebrows. "In case you forgot, I am her father. And he is a complete dickhead, why would I not talk about him like that?"__

__"Oh wow really? How could I forget? Of course, I didn't forget, Champ. I wish I could. You can't talk about him like that because our daughter is in there. He is my Uncle, and if you're going to speak about him like that, then you can feel free to leave." Waverly said, crossing her arms and staring the man out._ _

__"Are you trying to stop me from embarrassing you in front of your little girlfriend?"_ _

__Waverly's eyes widened, as she repeated what the father of her child had just said to herself. He couldn't know anything. How could he? It's not like he ever paid any attention to her before, so he surely couldn't have realised._ _

__"You heard what I said, Waverly. You think I couldn't realise that it was her who you had feelings for when you broke up with me? What kind of impression are you leaving on Winter? That's disgusting. If you got back together with me, I could help you realise that you're not a lesbian. Nobody really is, there's always a man to help them realise that." Champ said, reaching out to stroke Waverly's arm._ _

__She tugged her arm away from Champ, shaking her head. The tears began to well up in her eyes. She knew that Champ wouldn't accept it, but she didn't think that he would figure it out so soon. She thought that he would be in the dark, with no idea what was going on between them, until they decided to tell Winter. "Champ, I'm not talking to you about this." When they dated before, he never knew anything that was going on in her life. He was much more focused on his friends, and the football games that he would watch. But things must have changed since then._ _

__Waverly harshly rubbed at the tears that were slowly beginning to fall from her eyes, before she felt the presence of a hand go around her waist. "Is everything okay, Waves?" The voice that she had missed for so long asked, and she immediately began to calm down. There was nothing that she could do about the fact that he knew about her feelings for the older girl, so they were just going to have to work through it together. She wasn't leaving a bad impression on her daughter, just by following what she had felt for years. If anything she was showing her that she could be exactly who she is, rather than hiding her true self._ _

__She looked up at the redhead, before looking back towards Champ. "I think that's enough for tonight, Champ. Say goodbye to Winter, and I will take her to school tomorrow." Waverly told the man, as he simply glared at the pair before walking back to where his daughter was sat. Once he had left, Waverly turned and wrapped her arms around Nicole. She relaxed into her touch, and let it continue to calm her._ _

__"It's okay, Waves. He's leaving now." Nicole said, stroking the smaller girl's back. She wasn't sure what Champ had said to her, and she wasn't going to push her to tell her, but she knew that it wasn't good. When she knew Waverly before, she had never seen her this upset except after she found out that her parents had passed. She barely knew the man, but she was already beginning to hate him._ _

__Waverly didn't say anything as she watched Champ say goodbye to Winter, and then left. Hearing her daughter asking him why he had to go made her feel even worse, but she couldn't be around him for any longer. She wasn't going to let him bring her down anymore, not now that she realised he only needed to be in Winter's life, not hers._ _

__"Mommy, why did he leave? He always tucks me into bed! How am I going to sleep?" The child kept asking, and her mother was becoming more and more frustrated._ _

__"I will tuck you in, you'll sleep perfectly fine," Waverly said with a sigh, trying to prevent herself from getting agitated._ _

__"But... but who is going to read me my bedtime story?" The child said, starting to cry._ _

__Waverly didn't know what to tell her daughter, and the sight of her crying because Champ had left made her regret asking him to leave. Maybe she should have just learned to put up with it. She didn't know why she had thought of herself over her daughter, and she was beginning to think that she wasn't the best mother after all. If she was a good mother, surely she would have let him stay, even if that only hurt her further than the words that he had spat at her._ _

__Nicole could see the woman gradually becoming more upset than she was before, and she immediately jumped in. "How about I read you a bedtime story? Would that be okay with you, Winter? I know a really good story about a princess who was hidden away until she found the person that she truly loved," She told her, and Winter broke out into a smile._ _

__"Yes, that sounds like a good story. Can we go now? I'm getting sleepy, Nicky." Winter asked excitedly, before Nicole stood up and picked the girl up._ _

__"How about you run a bath, Waves? It might make you feel a little bit better." Nicole suggested, kissing the younger woman on her forehead. She nodded and smiled in response. She wondered how the woman managed to know her better than she knew herself at times, and she knew that she would never push her to tell her anything, which was more than she could say for her last relationship._ _

__

\-----

___3 Years Ago_ _ _

_____"Goodnight, muffin. Sweet dreams." Waverly said, kissing her sleeping daughter on her forehead before making her way back down the stairs. ____ _ _ _

_______She saw Champ sat on the sofa, with the football on the television, and it immediately made her think of when and why she broke up with him. She shook her head at her thoughts, not wanting to remember that day, and went and sat on the other sofa next to her sister. ____ _ _ _ _ _

_________"Waverly?" She heard the man to the right-hand side of her ask, and she looked towards him. Wynonna looked up from her phone and watched the pair. Just because he had a young daughter, who he was a good father to, it didn't make the man a Saint. He had hurt Waverly before, and she would always go out of her way to make sure that it didn't happen again. ____ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

___________"Hm?" She asked, not really waiting to hear what he had to say. ____ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_____________"I need you to tell me who you have feelings for. They must be important if you'd pick them over me, the father of our five-month-old daughter." Champ told her. He had asked her many times before, and couldn't wait to know any longer. If he found the guy, he'd kill him. He took the opportunity away from him that would have let them all be a proper family like he had always wanted with Waverly. There may have been a few occasions where he had taken girls other than Waverly home, but that was only for a bit of fun. She would rarely sleep with him, and he needed to get those feelings off before they could have the family he wanted. ____ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_______________Waverly sighed again, and she shook her head at Wynonna, already knowing that she would want to intervene. "Look, Champ. For the last time, I'm not going to tell you. I have no obligations to tell you anything to do with my personal life any more. The only reason I'm even letting you be here right now is for the sake of that little girl." ____ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_________________"How can you seriously not just put your feelings aside so we can be together? You're being selfish, just thinking of yourself. Waverly, having separated parents is just going to make life worse for Winter. You already didn't let her have my last name, so it's bad enough for her. We could be a family, give her a proper family." Champ said, raising his voice. He had never been more frustrated, and could not understand why she couldn't give up her feelings for the sake of being a family. ____ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

___________________"She has a proper family. It will only do more damage if we were together for the sake of her, and all she would ever hear would be us arguing. Hell, look at us now. We're not even together, yet we're still arguing." Waverly told him. He had never been able to understand what was better for them both. It was better for Winter to have parents who weren't together and managed to be civil, than parents who were together and only argued. ____ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_____________________"You're making a bad decision, Waverly. You will regret it." He told her, standing up from his place on the sofa. ____ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_______________________"Champ, I swear to you right now, if you threaten my sister once again, it will be you that has regrets. I think she can make the decision of what is best for the child that she pushed out of her actual vagina. Did you do that? No. So I suggest that before you criticise her, you leave this house." Wynonna told him, standing him up and grabbing his arm to take him to the door. "Goodbye, Champ. Just to let you know, I thought Waverly should have gone to court for full custody. But she is a better person than the both of us are." She said, before shutting the door on him. ____ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_________________________As she walked back into the Living Room, she saw her sister crying on the sofa. It wasn't the first time she had seen her this way because of him, and it wouldn't be the last, even though she wished it would be. "It's okay, Babygirl." She told her, wrapping her arms around her shaking body. "It'll all be okay." ____ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

\----

__________________________"Waves?" Waverly heard a voice call into the bathroom, which pulled her out of her thoughts. "Is everything okay? You've been in there for a while now. It's starting to get late."_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________________"Um, yeah I'm okay. I was going to get out now, anyway. I'll be right there." She said, standing up out of the bath and grabbing the towel and robe that were hung up. She shook her head, trying not to think about everything that had just happened with Champ. Nicole was here now, and she wanted to appreciate the time that they had together, rather than dwelling on other things._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________________Nicole's eyes widened as she saw Waverly come into the bedroom where she was sat. Wynonna had shown her where the younger girl's bedroom was, not knowing of what she would see. The towel was wrapped tightly around her body, and her hair was dripping onto it. Nicole had to find her words before she could speak, trying not to be taken aback by the sight of her in just a towel._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________________"Oh my god, I'm so sorry. I didn't, um- I didn't realise you'd..." Nicole hesitated once again, trying to stop herself from being too flustered. "I'll go." She said, rushing out as Waverly laughed at her._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________________She quickly got changed into her pyjamas, using the towel that was previously wrapped around her to dry her hair, before going back downstairs. She saw her sister and best friend sat together, Wynonna also laughing at something, which they didn't know was the state that Nicole had come back downstairs in. The two were meant for each other, and if they didn't know that yet, she might have to tell them herself._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________________"Would you mind keeping an eye on Alice tonight? I have a date." Wynonna told the pair, as they nodded. "Have fun, you guys. Don't do anything I wouldn't do. Love you baby girl, bye Nicole!" The oldest girl said, grabbing her jacket from the coat rack before leaving the two to themselves._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________________Waverly said goodbye to her sister, before relaxing into the same sofa that Nicole was on. She prepared herself for the conversation that she was going to have to start, hoping that Nicole wouldn't take the question the wrong way, like she had done before._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________________"So, tell me about Shae," Waverly said, ready to finally talk about it with the older girl. Nicole sighed and began to tell her the whole truth._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _


	7. Chapter Seven

_"So, tell me about Shae." Waverly said, ready to finally talk about it with the older girl. Nicole sighed, and began to tell her the whole truth. ___

__

__"Well, it started a couple of years ago, I guess," Nicole said, thinking back to the time when they first met. She wasn't proud of what she had done and it would be a slight understatement to say that she wasn't the best person then._ _

__Waverly could see that Nicole was nervous from the way that she was fiddling with her fingers, and she started to regret asking her the question in the first place. She never wanted to make her think that she had to tell her about her past relationships simply because they had kissed."Nicole... I mean, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have asked you to tell me. If you want to wait, or not even tell me at all, it's not like you have to. You're not obligated to-"_ _

__"Stop. Waves, I want to tell you. I'm sorry for shouting at you earlier, I want you to know." Nicole said. "We had a relationship - well, sort of a relationship... I'm gay, Waverly." She started off, pausing to see the reaction that her best friend would have. They may have kissed earlier, and she hoped that it would mean something, but she knew that she could easily be overthinking it._ _

__Waverly looked at her, trying to tell if she was serious. "Nic, I know. I have known for years, and that kiss earlier only confirmed it." She said, placing her hand on the redhead's cheek. Waverly looked up at the girl's dark brown eyes, that always seemed to sparkle whenever she looked at her, before leaning forward and kissing her once again. Their lips locked, and she thought about all of the years that she had wanted to do it. Everything seemed to be going right, even if Champ wanted to try and ruin that. She pulled back, wanting to hear the rest of her story. "Tell me about her, what happened?"_ _

__"Well, after you left, I felt really lonely. Even with our calls and living with Gus and Shorty, it just felt like I didn't have anyone. When I wasn't working shifts at Shorty's, I was drinking there. That was how I met Shae." She told her, remembering the night that the two of them had first met. "I was pretty drunk, had a few glasses of whiskey. Shae was down from Washington, working in the hospital. She came over to me and we talked for a while, and before I knew it I was waking up in her bed. She helped me to realise that I was gay, and helped me to... helped me to realise my feelings for you."_ _

__She stopped and quickly wiped at the tears that were falling from her eyes. She had never been this open with anyone. After the two of them separated, with Waverly moving away for college, she had become closed off, not telling people much about her life. Waverly held her hand, silently encouraging her to finish what she wanted to tell her._ _

__"We were on and off, nothing ever more than two people who just had sex whenever we wanted to. As time went on, I knew she had feelings for me. I took advantage of her feelings just so that I wasn't lonely, and had something - someone - to do." Nicole told her, shaking her head in disgust at what she did. "She hates me now, she doesn't show it, but I know she does."_ _

__Waverly put her arm around the other woman's body, and rubbed at her back, not saying anything and just letting her cry. She knew that when Nicole was upset, the best thing to do was to just hold her. Words never seemed to do much, but holding her always seemed to calm her down in some way._ _

__"You're the only thing that has ever been right in my life, and when you left, I turned into someone that you wouldn't even recognise. If you saw me then, you wouldn't want me to be here with you right now, and you definitely wouldn't have kissed me earlier."_ _

__"Nicole, that's not true," Waverly told her. No matter what Nicole did, she would always think of her as the same girl that she met when she first moved to Purgatory. The same girl who quickly became the person that she was closest to within a few weeks. She was the best friend that she had always dreamt of, and she still was. Nothing would change that. "Do you know when I first realised that I had feelings for you?"_ _

__"That time we did seven minutes in heaven at Perry Crofte's party?" Nicole asked with a laugh. That was the first time that they had ever kissed, and everybody at the party had assumed that nothing had happened, not thinking that they would have wanted to do anything because of their friendship. Well, that and the fact that there had never been any same-sex couples in Purgatory, and Nicole was the first gay person that a lot of the residents there had met. The two of them went along with it, and acted as if they forgot. But they didn't._ _

__Waverly shook her head, and laughed at the other girl's response. "Remember that time in high school when I was sick? Gus and Shorty were away for the weekend, and Wynonna spent the night with Doc. You had plans to go out with Wynonna, and you cancelled so that you could stay with me. We spent the night with tissues everywhere, watching movie marathons. That was when I realised."_ _

__Nicole shook her head, not believing that Waverly could have known for that long. She had not known herself until after her best friend had left, and right now, that seemed so late for her to realise. Once she figured out how she felt, everything made sense, but she couldn't believe that it had taken her that long to realise. "Really?" If she had really known for that long, why wouldn't she have told her? But then, she realised, she had known for a while how she felt about the younger brunette and hadn't told her._ _

__"Really," Waverly replied, chuckling slightly at the look on Nicole's face._ _

__"Go on a date with me." Nicole said, before widening her eyes and realizing what she had just said. "Wait, I... um, I didn't mean to say it like that. Will you go on a date with me?"_ _

__She laughed at the nerves that seemed to be radiating off of the redhead, and simply nodded her head in response. "Of course I will, it would be my pleasure. Plus Wynonna now owes me one, so she can look after Winter. I literally have no clue who she's even going out with, did she tell you?"_ _

__"Last thing I knew she was still dating Doc, so I have no clue." Nicole said, scrunching up her features at the mention of his name. She hadn't seen him since they were all in high school, but she didn't have a good reputation then. She just hoped that she had changed._ _

__"Yeah, well that ended once Wynonna realised that he didn't exactly want anything to do with Alice. He was pretty much the opposite of Champ once he found out. Ran off somewhere, nobody knows where he is." Waverly explained, shaking her head at the idea. Her sister and niece deserved so much better, and she was glad that Wynonna was finally out looking for someone again. She hadn't dated since Doc, wanting her main priority to be her daughter. She still was her main priority, but she was glad that she was making time for herself now, as well._ _

__"Wow, that's shitty. I can't imagine how you could just not care about your own child, your own blood. I don't know, it's just hard to understand." Nicole told her._ _

__Ever since she was young, she had dreamed about having a family and kids. It had been one of the things that she couldn't imagine her life without. She always knew that she wanted that life with Waverly, even if she couldn't admit it to herself. How anyone could abandon the child that they had helped to create, was a mystery to Nicole._ _

__"Well, he's a shitty guy. At least she's moving on now. I don't think she's even had sex since she had Alice, which I did not expect. Not that I have or anything, it just surprised me when it was Wynonna. We both know that she used to enjoy sex more than a lot of things." Waverly told her, as the other woman raised her eyebrows in response._ _

__Wynonna was always someone who liked having people around her. Whether that was family, someone she was in a relationship with, or someone she was having sex with; she didn't like to be alone. She liked having someone that related to her, and usually, that was someone that she cared about in a different way. She loved Doc, and her life had revolved around him for the better part of a couple of years. But if he didn't care about their daughter, she didn't want him anymore. It had taken her almost four years to find someone else, but Waverly was glad she was finally moving on. She just hoped they were worth it, and knowing Wynonna's instincts, they were._ _

__"Wait, so you haven't had sex for four years?" Nicole asked the younger girl, acting shocked._ _

__Waverly went red at the mention of her sex life. It wasn't something that she was very open about, unless it was with Wynonna. "Um... no. I guess I just spent more time focusing on college and Winter."_ _

__Nicole smiled at her reaction, not really surprised that Waverly had put other things and people before herself. She had always been like that, and it was one of the things that Nicole loved her for. But, it could also be her downfall when she couldn't realise when it was time to focus on herself. "It's not a bad thing, Waves. It's amazing that you always manage to put others first. You're amazing, you know that?"_ _

__The younger brunette leaned forward to capture the redhead's lips. As Nicole went to lean out of it, Waverly decided to deepen the kiss. Talking about the lack of action that she had been getting for the entirety of her daughter's life only made her feel more sexually frustrated, and now that she knew Nicole returned the feelings that she had for her, it only emphasised certain _needs _that she had.___ _

____Nicole's hands moved towards Waverly's sides, squeezing them lightly, which elicited a moan from the younger girl. She moved to straddle Nicole's hips and gently pushed her down to lie on the sofa, so that she was on top of her._ _ _ _

____Her lips moved to the side of the redhead's neck, lightly sucking and nipping at the sensitive area. Nicole couldn't believe that this was happening and felt her body sigh into the pleasure that Waverly was giving her. Her tongue soothed the area every once in a while, and Nicole moaned beneath the girl. She had done this before with Shae, and other guys, but it had never felt this good. The fact that it was the woman she had been in love with for years only intensified the pleasure that she was feeling._ _ _ _

____Waverly tugged at the girl's top in an attempt to remove it, throwing it somewhere onto the floor of the living room, before she was flipped over and was suddenly under Nicole. Their eyes connected, and for a moment she was in shock at how beautiful the woman was, doing nothing but sitting above her in the lacy white bra that she was wearing. They kissed once again, urgency in their every move._ _ _ _

____"Mommy!" A small voice cried from upstairs._ _ _ _

____The two immediately pulled away from each other, and Waverly gave Nicole an apologetic look, before she climbed off of the younger girl's body._ _ _ _

____"I'll be right back, I'm so sorry." Waverly told her, before leaving and going to see her daughter. She opened the door, and turned the light switch on so that she could see the four year old._ _ _ _

____"What's the matter, baby?" She asked her, sitting down on the small bed as she climbed into her arms. There were tears on the small child's face, and Waverly attempted to wipe them off of her cheeks. She relaxed now that she was with her mother, but it didn't stop her from crying._ _ _ _

____"I had a nightmare. Daddy wasn't happy that Nicky came to stay with us, so he got angry and he shouted at her. They wouldn't stop arguing, mommy." She told her, a small pout showing slightly on her features._ _ _ _

____"It's okay, baby. It's not real. Only a dream." She told her, rubbing small circles on her back. She clearly wasn't doing a great job at hiding the fact that she and Champ weren't getting along too well. And he clearly wasn't doing a great job at hiding the fact that he didn't like Nicole. for whatever reason that was._ _ _ _

____"But daddy doesn't like Nicky, does he?"_ _ _ _

____Waverly sighed, not knowing what to tell her. She decided that it was the best thing to try and hide his disliking for Nicole. "I don't know, baby. But you and I like her, don't we? And that's what matters." She told her, as she felt her young daughter nod against her chest. "Shall we go downstairs and see Nicky?"_ _ _ _

____It may have been late at night, but she figured that being around the two women would help to calm her down, and get her back to sleep. Winter agreed, and Waverly picked her and her blanket up, carrying them down the stairs to the living room._ _ _ _

____Once they opened the door, she was glad to see that Nicole had put her top back on, for the sake of Winter._ _ _ _

____"Hiya, Winnie. Are you okay?" Nicole asked the girl, who seemed even smaller than earlier curled up in Waverly's arms. She recognised the state that she was in, remembering the nightmares that she used to have as a child. She still suffered with them occasionally, and on those nights, she could barely move after._ _ _ _

____"I had a bad dream about you and daddy," Winter said with a small pout, reaching her arms out so that Nicole could take her. "Why does daddy not like you, Nicky?"_ _ _ _

____Nicole looked towards Waverly with wide eyes. She could tell that the man didn't like her from the way he acted at their dinner earlier, but she didn't know the small girl would be able to pick up on it too. "I don't know, Winter." She said with a sigh, looking towards the younger brunette before back towards Winter. "Maybe it's because he doesn't like that I love your mommy, too."_ _ _ _

____Waverly gave the woman a sad smile, before moving so that she could sit next to the pair. She watched as they spoke to each other, and realised that the two most important people in her life were sat next to her._ _ _ _

____"You love my mommy? Like the way that I love her?" Winter asked, her head leaning against Nicole's arm._ _ _ _

____"Not quite the way that you love her, it's a little bit different to that," Nicole replied, looking up at Waverly the whole time._ _ _ _

____"Like daddy loved mommy from before I was born?" She asked, glancing back and forth between her mother and the redhead._ _ _ _

____Nicole looked towards Waverly, not sure whether the woman wanted her daughter to know about what was going on. Waverly nodded at her. She had always tried to be the most honest that she could be with Winter, and she didn't want that to change now._ _ _ _

____"Yeah, that's exactly what it's like, baby. You're so clever." Waverly smiled at the young girl. "How about we go upstairs to mommy's room, and you can sleep with me and Nicole for tonight?" She asked her, not realising the shocked look that Nicole had given her._ _ _ _

____Nicole hadn't planned to stay anywhere else, but she didn't know that Waverly would know that. She didn't know why, but she thought that Waverly would turn her away at the end of the night._ _ _ _

____The small girl wriggled in Nicole's arms, signalling for her to move and follow the brunette who was already half-way up the staircase._ _ _ _

____She guessed she was staying after all._ _ _ _


End file.
